Magneto: Alone
by Weskron
Summary: In an alternate Age of Apocalypse, Magneto is a man running away from his own past, trying to survive in a world that has no love for men such as him. But when his past catches up to him, what will Magneto have to confront in this barren wasteland?


Alone 

I write this now, sitting in the remains of a kitchen sink. In the wastelands of men gone by, I stand alone. Of this scene, of the gore and forgotten urgency, only I remember, for I am the only one who can. My name is Erik Lehnsherr and I am a man in need of rebirth.

It was the last thing that man ever wrote before he was forgotten. It was on the morning of the following day of a great, personal tragedy.

Erik was twenty five when that force took over the world as its own. Apocalypse was its name. A being, much like himself, of immeasurable power. Stronger than any living being on Earth, possibly beyond. It came from beyond the universe, a construct that survived the big bang. It was something that didn't come from this plane of existence. And no one shall ever understand it. It still rules supreme from the center of the world, watching all with his power, through the eyes of his horsemen. War, Death, Pestilence, and Famine.

Ten years later, as a grizzled man writes down his last journal entry, he looks over his book to see the dead body of his son. He silently mourns his loss and closes his eyes for a moment, angered it had to come to this. His lips purse beneath his beard. And as this man sets down his journal, he stands up to see himself in a shattered mirror nearby. His dark red armor he once wore as the fiend known as Magneto, covered with tattered capes needed in a dystopian wasteland like the one he finds himself in. His helmet on his head slightly cracked. He was a shadow of his former self. He was once a pride member of the mutant race, a pro-rights activist. Maybe he was fanatic at times, but he looked out for the greater good of his kind at all costs.

On this day, an old friend of his approach from behind. His name is Scott Summers, known to the world at one point as Scott Summers. He looks similarly battered. Scott wears a hood over his shaved head, his visor on his face. His hand rubs his stubble for a moment, seeing his old enemy standing before him, over the body of his son. He is wearing a duster coat made out of dark, stitched leather, jeans, boots, gloves, and the top half of his suit.

"Erik," He greets curtly.

"Scott," Erik replies.

The two stand and look at each other for a few silent moments.

"You killed Pietro," Scott claims, gesturing at his son's body. Erik nods slowly. "Just like you killed Cable."

"You know it was not like that, Scott. Cable tried to kill me and I defended myse-" Scott cuts Erik off with a wave of his hand.

"I know one thing, Erik. You're a murderer. A thief. A genocidal maniac. I will take my son's reputation over your word any day."

Erik's head bows slightly. "I have tried... changing, Scott. I know it's hard to believe, but I have tried."

Scott scoffs. "Changed, huh? I see no difference in you than I did ten years ago. A murderer, standing over the body of a fallen hero, with promises of change and redemption."

Erik and Scott stand a bit longer, both taking the situation in slowly. They both know what is to come of this. Even if they both do not wish to fight anymore, there are certain ties to the past that must be severed.

So Scott makes the first move, rushing forward and shooting his eyebeam at Erik. However, the beams seem more out of control now. Much more destructive than they once had. The master of magnetism creates an electromagnetic field around himself, absorbing the enormous blast. Erik shoots the field out, knocking Scott back slightly.

The former leader of the X-Men spins around to see Erik shoot several pieces of metal toward him. Scott blasts one of them into oblivion while the other pieces slam into him, knocking him back on the ruins of the building they stand upon. Scott growls slightly, shooting a beam at Erik's feet, causing dust and debris to burst up, blocking Magneto's vision.

The older man looks around, trying to see through the dust. However, Scott bursts through and strikes Erik across the jaw. Magneto recovers quickly, blocking the next strike, pushing him away, and throwing one if his own, hitting Scott across his face. The two men trade blows for the next few minutes before Scott blasts Erik through a broken down wall and into the remains of a bathtub.

"We both know how this has to end, Erik," Scott exclaims, slipping through the hole.

Scott blasts Erik again, the former villain slipping farther into the ground. With a dazed glance, he turns back up to Scott and frowns. He nods.

"Yes..."

Erik, using his powers of magnetism, lifts a sharp piece of metal debris into the air. He bursts to his feet, lunging forward and shooting the bladed end through Scott's side. He is thrown back slightly, stumbling through the hole and tripping down the debris to the grey ground below.

"We do."

Scott bares his teeth for a moment, getting to his feet and grabbing the piece of the debris. He wrenches it with both hands, growling and screaming before finally ripping it out of his body. He holds it in one hand, breathing heavily. Scott looks up at Erik, who is floating, waiting for his opponent to make the next move. Cyclops angrily uses his free hand to throw his hood back onto his shoulders and rip off his visor. He closes his eyes, looks up above, and lets loose his power into the darkened sky.

"I see," Erik murmurs.

Scott begins to charge forward, his eyebeams uncontrollably shooting energy toward Erik. Magneto covers his body with an electromagnetic field, blocking the beams, btu causing immense amounts of energy to rip into the scenery around them, destroying the ruins of the building. Scott attempts to stab Erik with the sharp piece of debris, but he is able to grab Scott's arms, blocking the debris, but causing the electromagnetic field to go down. The eyebeam shoots into the side of Erik's face, burning it badly, spinning Erik around and causing him to stumble forward. He feels another painful sensation, realizing Scott stabbed him with the debris. He cries out in pain, causing a shockwave of magnetic energy to throw Scott onto his back.

Erik rips the debris out, using his powers, and tosses it aside. He turns to Scott, his signature helmet now broken where his beams hit, his face burnt. Anger begins to well up inside him. The master of magnetism floats into the air and uses his powers to start ripping all of the objects with any source of metal in them into the air, shaking the ground with his power. They begin to swirl around him, showcasing his true power. Scott continues to shoot eyebeams at the debris, striking Erik several times, injuring him as he prepares the attack.

Erik lets out a blood curdling roar as he shoots all of those pieces of debris at Cyclops, the hero being knocked around by walls and girders alike. Finally, the onslaught ends, having Scott cut, bruised, and battered from the assault. His rage still not sated, Erik lands next to Scott and spits down at him.

Lifting him into the air by controlling the iron in his body and bones, Magneto has a nefarious glint in his eye as he puts both hands together and begins to slowly move them apart, as if he's tearing something apart. Scott begins to scream in agonizing pain as he's ripped apart slowly. Erik, taking pity on his opponent, sharply rips his hands apart, tearing Cyclops into pieces.

Magneto allows the pieces to drop with a thud. He stumbles back slightly, the wounds of battle beginning to set in as the adrenaline leaves his body. Erik falls back onto the debris, near where his son's body remains. He begins to breathe heavily, feeling an odd sensation of his breath leaving his body. It won't come back, it just continuously leaves. He looks around at his work. His bloody handiwork. What can he claim he did, in the afterlife? Caused pain? Destruction? Conflict and war? Death?

And as Erik realizes how futile his existence was, he fades away slowly and looks at the sky of morning, the morning sun breaking through to shine orange light upon the grey land.


End file.
